Date set for talks on Iran nuclear program

The next round of international talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program will take place on February 26 in Kazakhstan, the European Union says.

The EU's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, is leading the negotiations on behalf of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

The talks had been expected to take place last month, but were delayed after both sides were unable to arrange a meeting.

Deputy negotiators Helga Schmid for the EU and Ali Bagheri for Iran agreed on Tuesday that the negotiations would take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan on February 26, Ashton's office said in a statement.

Ashton hopes "the talks will be productive and that concrete progress can be made towards a negotiated solution to meet the international community's concerns about the Iranian nuclear program," it said.

The so-called 5+1 group represented by Ashton fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Tehran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only and says it wants sanctions lifted before making new concessions.

Talks broke down between the two sides in Moscow in mid-June, with only expert-level contacts since then.

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